Macon County, Illinois was organized in 1829, and at that time included not only its present geographic area, but also in portions of the present-day Piatt, DeWitt, and Moultrie Counties. The county was named in honor of Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, who was a prominent national character during many of the early years of our Republic, having served with distinction throughout the Revolutionary War. Township organization was adopted at the election held in November, 1859.

The Macon County Board currently has 7 Districts, with three members representing each District for a total of 21 Board members. The Macon County Board Chair is elected from the Board members.

Macon County, Illinois is home to Decatur's Millikin University, Richland Community College, and two major regional hospitals: Decatur Memorial Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital. Macon County is a leader in agribusiness with the headquarters of Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), a Tate and Lyle research and manufacturing facility, and it hosts the world-renown Farm Progress Show every other year.

According to the 2010 US Census, Macon County, Illinois has a population of 110,768. The largest urban areas in the County are the City of Decatur, the Village of Mt. Zion, and the Village of Forsyth.

Visitors will find many historical sites around Macon County, many that are associated with Abraham Lincoln including the log house where Lincoln tried several cases as a lawyer in the 1830's, the site of his famous "Stump Speech", the site where Lincoln was nominated for President, and the Lincoln Homestead where Lincoln and his family lived.

The purpose of this website is to increase awareness and accessibility to information about local government, services and programs of Macon County. Please check back often for updates in the scrolling news box. If you know what you are looking for, but can't find it, please use the Site Search box in the top left. Check out our Questions and Answers page for the most common questions that we get. You can click on the weather in the box on the left hand side to get detailed information and forecasts from the weather channel. If you would like to see a list of every page on this site use the site map at the bottom of the page.

Parking while conducting business at the County Office Building is available as follows:

3 hour unmetered, free parking in the angle parking spots on Main Street across the street This parking is monitored and tickets will be given after the 3 hour time limit

A minimal number of 30 minute free parking spots are available on Wood Street in front of the County Office Building Another small number of 30 minute free spots plus a few handicapped spots are also available in back of the building and are accessible through the drive off of Main St.

Parking while at the Courthouse is available in Municipal Lot #1

Macon County does not have contracts with Lobbyists, however does pay dues to some government sector lobbying associations which include most Departmental Associations as well as the following:

A recent amendment to the Open Meetings Act requires an employer who participates in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) to post on its website, or at its principal office if it does not have a website, for two (2) different categories of employees: those employees with a total compensation package in excess of $75,000 and those employees with a total compensation package equal to or greater than $150,000. These changes were part of Public Act 97-609, the pension reform bill. The provisions concerning posting on the website become effective on January 1, 2012.